The Story

Chapter 1

Off in the distance, the sight and sounds of the fireworks seemed to take control of the night sky. Colors which spanned the entire rainbow illuminated the city below.

"Pretty Fireworks," exclaimed a young girl admiring the stunning light show above.

"It is quite beautiful sweetheart," her mother said as they both watched the night sky intently.

"It looks like it's starting again," an older gentleman calmly said as he looked towards the sky, gently placing his hat on his head; he turned to walk away, but as soon as he did, a young man rushed past him, knocking the older gentleman's hat right off as he ran by. "My, my," he sighed as he knelt down to pick up his hat, "Looks like someone is in a hurry."

"Why the hell does everyone have to stop and look at the damn fireworks," the young man yelled as he dodged people left and right along the sidewalk as he ran towards the fireworks and their place of origin. He made his way towards their place of origin; he stopped at the entrance to a school. "Finally," the young man stood at the entrance, admiring its structure. It looks more beautiful at night, he thought. The school itself was grand, almost like a palace; it seemed like it was built for nobility. Windows lined most of the entire building, but if you were to peer into most of them, you will find nothing but empty space. But this particular school wasn't built to teach any sort of academics; it was the grounds for a martial arts tournament. Most of the rooms were used for training as well as sparring, but for the actual competition the main stadium was the only one that would be used. Located at the center of the school, it stood as its own entity. But he would have to postpone his sightseeing for another time because he was extremely late. "Oh shit, I got to hurry to the workshop." He quickly ran towards a lone building slightly away from the main school. When he got there, a man was standing there waiting for him.

"You're late Hakoda," a deep voice said sternly. The man was enormous by normal standards, but not fat by any means. He was all muscle, his arms crossed, an angered look on his face as he stared at the young man who was standing in front of him.

"I'm sorry Master Buddha." Scared of the master because the last time he was late, he was nearly worked to death.

"It's not a problem Hakoda," Master Buddha said as he took Hakoda inside to the main workshop. In the main workshop, there are 3 stations positioned in close proximity to each other. "Ichiro has been taking care of all your work," Master Buddha finished.

"WHAT?!" Hakoda's jaw dropped; he then took Master Buddha away from the main room, looking around to make sure Ichiro wasn't around. Ichiro wasn't the best at forging weapons, but he still tried to be the best. "Why would you do that?!" Hakoda asked. -

"Ya know," Master Buddha started, "most of the more elite students and seniors decided to skip the opening ceremony and come to pick up their weapons early." he slowly began to move towards a small room at the end of the hall.

"But… where were you?"

"I was…" he had an embarrassed look on his face, "…asleep in the backroom."

"WHAT?!" Hakoda slammed Master Buddha's head with his oversized hammer.

"Ow, ow, ow," Master Buddha rubbed his head after Hakoda had lifted his hammer. "By the way," Master Buddha began once again, "where is Ichiro anyways?"

"WHAT?!" Hakoda hit Master Buddha again on the head. "You mean you don't know!"

"After he finished, he ran off to see the opening ceremony."

"He should know that we aren't allowed to go near the main building."

"Look Hakoda, I know he's your best friend," He said, "but let him have some fun. You know it has been his dream to become a student here."

"But he shouldn't be there." Concerned Hakoda ran off to the main building, carrying his oversized hammer just in case some of the students wanted trouble. Hakoda ran towards the opening ceremony grounds which happened to be located at the grand stadium in the center of the school. When he arrived, the ceremony had already been over. "Crap, it's already finished?!" Now he had no idea where Ichiro could be, so Hakoda began running around the school to try and find Ichiro, but he got exhausted, "Why the hell is this school so damn big!" He yelled. But as he started again, a group of students ran by talking about how a fight had broken out between two students. Hakoda wondered if it was Ichiro they were talking about, but rather than think about it, he followed closely behind them. As he got closer, a crowd huddled in a circular pattern seemed to appear in front of him. He pushed his way through the crowd to find…

"Ichiro!" Shocked to see his friend in such condition, Hakoda rushed over to his friend's side. "What happened to you?"

"So the loser blacksmith has a friend, eh?" The voice was condescending. "Why don't you take your friend and get him looked at?" The voice continued to speak as the around them were laughing and whispering hateful words towards the blacksmith lying there nearly unconscious. None of the students liked the blacksmiths; to them, they were just lowly servants who did nothing more than forge the weapons that the students used.

"You did this to him?!" Hakoda was furious, usually Hakoda kept his cool, but when it came to his friends, he can be very unstable.

"The craftsmanship on my weapon was shit," the stranger replied. "Gave it a swing and it snapped in two, so I merely taught him a lesson." The stranger decided not to waste any more time with these blacksmiths, so he turned to walk away.

SLAM! Hakoda's hammer came slamming down right next to the stranger.

"Heh," the stranger turned his head and looked over his shoulder towards Hakoda, "you missed, blacksmith."

"What are you talking about," Hakoda's voice no longer had a shred of anger; it was now calm and collective. "I missed."

Whispers immediately rushed through the crowd. He missed? Conceited blacksmith. What is he talking about, missed?

"You missed?"